Door arrangement for hopper-cars.



PATENTBD APR. 18, 1905 J. M.H ANSEN. DOOR ARRANGEMENT FOR HOPPER CARS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.10. 1905.

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APPLICATION FILED FEB.10. 1905.

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UNITED STATES Patented April 18, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

DOOR ARRANGEMENT FOR HOPPER-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,571, dated April18, 1905.

I Application filed February 10, 1905. Serial Nb. 245.164.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. HANS EN, a resident of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have'invented a new anduseful Improvement in Door Arrangements for Hopper-Cars; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

My invention relates to a door arrangement for hopper-cars, and moreespecially to the manner of mounting the same.

The object is to so mount the doors of hopper-bottom cars that whenswinging open there will be the maximum clearance between the loweredges of the doors and track, thus permitting the hoppers of the car tobe built closer down to the track and correspondingly increasing thecubical contents of the car.

In hopper-cars it is desirable to locate the doors down 'as low aspossible, so as to either increase the cubical contents of the car orlower its point of specific gravity. The swinging doors, however, limitthe closeness with which the hopper can approach the track. Usually suchdoors are placed inclined or horizontal and in swinging open the loweredge describes an arc, so that when the door has reached a verticalposition the lower "edge thereof will be much closer to the track thanwhen the door is closed. Heretofore such doors have usually been'mounted on hinged connections attached to and practically in the planeof the door.

The object of the present invention is to so mount the swinging doorsthat the clearance between the lower edges of the doors and track willbe increased.

To this end the invention consists, generally stated, in locating thepivots of the door inside of the hopper, or at least inside of the planeof the door. As a consequence,wl1en the door swings open the lower edgethereof will not approach as close to the track as with prior doorconstructions, the portion of the are described by the lower edge of thedoor which approaches the track being much shorter than usual.

The invention also consists in details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion ofthe hopper of a car, showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal section through the hopper; and Fig. 3 is asection taken at right angles to Fig. 2 and on the line 3 3,

v Fig. 1.

My improved door arrangement may be applied to any construction ofhopper-car, either wooden or metal, and irrespective of whether thedoors are in inclined or horizontal position when closed. The drawingsshow only a small portion of the car. The center sill is shown at 1 andthe car sides at 2,-these being of metal and the car side beingstrengthened at its bottom by the angle-rail 3. The inside hopper-sheetis shown at 4 and the out side hopper-sheet at 5.

6 and 7 represent the inclined hopper-plates, and 8 the door closing thehopper-opening. In the arrangement shown the hopper is arrangedtransversely of the car, but this is immaterial, as the invention isequally applicable to longitudinally arranged hoppers. The doors 8, asis preferable with this type of car, are arranged in pairs, one oneither side of the car center, and are connected by the transverse beam10, formed of bulb-angles or the like. The door operating or closingmech anism may be of any suitable type, either links 11 and 12,connected to a crank 13 on an operating-shaft 14:, or the usual chainand winding mechanism. The ,particular form illustrated is old and formsno part of the present invention.

The doors themselves may be either wood or metal, those shown in thedrawings being metal plates flanged on their upper and two side edges.Connected to the doors are the hinge-straps 16, which are bent inwardlyat an angle to the plane of the door, as at 17, and are provided attheir inner ends with suitable hinge-eyes. The hopper-plates 7'areslotted, as at 18, and the bent ends 17 of the hinge-straps projectthroughthese slots to the inside of the hopper and are pivoted at 20 ata point a considerable distance inside of the plane of the door. Thecooperating hingebutts may be of anysuitable form, but preferably beingcast or pressed hoods 21, so as to cover the slot 19 and prevent theescape of the lading.

When the door swings open, its lower edge will describe the are shown inFig. 2. The minor portion of this arcthat is, up to the point22approaches the track, while the major portionthat is, the portion fromthe point 22-recedes from the track. This is due to the fact that thehinge pivot or axis is located inside of the plane of the door. Thefarther said axis is projected inside of the hopper the less will be theapproach of the lower edge of the door to the track in swinging open.

The arrangement may be varied considerably in details of constructionwithout departing from the spirit of my invention. It is not materialjust how the hinging of the door is effected, providing that the axis ofthe hinge is located inside of the plane of the door. This arrangementcan be applied to any character of car or hopper and even to a carhaving horizontal doors flush with the carbody. All such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is 1. The combination of acar-body having a door-opening,adoor therefor. hinges connected to the door and extending at an anglethereto, and cooperating hinge-butts to which the hinges are pivoted,the axes of said hinges being located inside the plane of the door.

2. The combination of a car-body havinga door opening, a door thereformounted to swing on horizontal pivots, hinges connected to the door andextending at an angle thereto, and cooperating hinge butts to which thehinges are pivoted, the axes of said hinges being located inside theplane of the door.

3. The combination of a car-body having a door-opening and havingslotted walls adjacent to said door-opening, a door therefor,

hinges connected to the door and extending at an angle therefrom andthrough the slots in the car-walls, and cooperating hinge-butts to whichthe hinges are pivoted, the axes of said hinges being located inside thecar-body.

4. The combination of a car-body havinga door-opening and slotted wallsadjacent to said opening, a door therefor, hinges connected to the doorand extending at an angle therefrom and through the slots in the wall ofthe carbody, and hooded butts located inside the carbody and over theslots in the walls thereof, and provided with means for the attachmentof the hinges thereto.

5. The combination of a car-body, a downwardly projecting hopper havinginclined hopper-sheets and provided with a door-opening and with slotsin the hopper-sheets, a door, hinges connected to the door and extendingat an angle therefrom and through the slots in the hopper-sheets, andcooperating hinge-butts to which the hinges are pivoted, the pivots ofsaid hinges being located inside the car-body.

6. The combination of acar-body, a downwardly-projecting hopper thereforhaving inclined hopper-sheets provided with a dooropening and with slotsadjacent to said open ing hooded members secured to the hopperplatesinside of the hopper and over the slots in the hopper-plates, a door,and hinges connected to said door and extending at an angle therefromand through the slots in the hopper-sheets and into the hooded membersand being pivoted to said hooded members inside of the hopper-sheets.

In testimony whereof I, the said JOHN M. HANSEN, have hereunto set myhand.

JOHN M. HANSEN.

Witnesses:

ROBERT C. TOTTEN, J. R. KELLER.

